We'll Have Halloween On Christmas
by KingdomFlameVIII
Summary: And in the night, we'll wish this never ends; we'll wish this never ends. Christmassy AkuRoku fluff. Rated M for inferred sexy time at the beginning.


**Hi guys! Merry Christmas! This little ball of fluff is somewhat a continuation, more like a sideshot, of Senioritis. Don't worry, you don't need to have read the story to follow it (but I'd love love love it if you did!). I'm just borrowing my characterizations of Axel and Roxas from there so that I don't have to develop them. I threw this together over the week, which is my excuse for its utter lack of smut. Sorry, loves. **

**Fun Senioritis fact: I actually know someone named Autumn Kauffman. And she doesn't know me, which kind of makes me an asshole for basing a previously nasty character off of her. I swear though, I wasn't stretching the truth when I described her.**

***CHRISTMAS EVE EDIT* Oh my gosh, guys, it actually IS snowing here, in my backwater little corner of the Lehigh Valley! I feel like, psychic or something!**

* * *

Twas the night before Christmas. Two stockings were hung neatly on either side of the fireplace, a tree had been put up and decorated thoroughly by the window, and all the leftover Halloween decorations still littered every other corner of the house, because its occupants were males, and said males were far too unmotivated to bother putting away any decorations from any of the three consecutive holidays towards the end of the year until the year was over.

The smell of sugar cookies cooling in the kitchen wafted to even the most remote bedroom, a lovely contrast to that of the fireplace, which was ablaze and assisting the Christmas tree lights in illuminating the living room. As crazy and unreal as it sounds, it actually _was _snowing outside, making the night all the more magical.

All was silent through the house, apart from the high pitched, orgasmic cries echoing from the center of the living room.

"Ohh-ohhh _Axel! _Fuck me _right there! Nnngh! _Right there!" Roxas cried out, his blue eyes ablaze from the light of the fire as his head fell back into the semi-collapsed fort of pillows they'd built up. The whole area was a mess, really. Littering the nest of comforters and pillows were movies of all kinds, candy canes and candy cane wrappers, an open bag of marshmallows, and a torn-open condom package. Because even though they'd been dating for almost six years, Axel still made sure he used one as often as he could help.

"Baby, you're so good," Axel growled in return, pistoning himself faster into his lover. It wasn't long before they both reached their climax, each calling out the others' name in their own special moment of bliss.

Even after they'd settled down for a nice cuddling, Axel's heart beat wildly in his chest. It always did, when he was together with Roxas like this, not doing much at all but loving each other.

It made Axel's brain go all fuzzy every single time he realized just how far they'd come from sneaking around in his old apartment after school, hoping to god nobody found out about them. And now here he was, in a beautifully stable relationship with his ex-student, living in a house just on the outskirts of Hollow Bastion that they'd bought together some months after Roxas graduated from Twilight Town University and landed a job with the Hollow Bastion Courant.

And for six years, they were doing really damn well. Their relationship had lasted unwaveringly all the way through Roxas' college career, and even in that midway, rocky patch of Roxas being unable to capture a job despite his a brand new, pristine little communications degree. They'd only ever gotten into one major fight, which was over something so silly and trivial that Axel couldn't remember any of it past the mindblowing make up sex they had. And on the topic of sexy time, that was still good, too. As far as he knew, neither of them had gotten tired of the other. The only complaints Axel ever had was about how little time they had to spend together. But since that was _his _fault, between working as a teacher and going back to college to get a second degree, he didn't really have that right.

"Whatcha want to watch next?" Axel asked quietly, pushing back his lover's hair and kissing him on the forehead. From the stack of movies they'd compiled a _long _time ago exclusively for the Christmas season, only two remained; Nightmare Before Christmas, and Halloween. Yes, Halloween was on the list. All of the other classics like A Christmas Story, Peanuts, The Grinch, Home Alone, and the Santa Claus had been watched earlier that week.

Roxas sat up, letting the blanket fall from his nude body. Axel ran his fingers gently along the blonde's back as he contemplated his decision. "Let's watch Halloween and order Chinese food."

Axel snorted. Such typical Roxas. Only he would want to order Chinese on Christmas Eve when there were clearly fresh cookies out of the oven. But that's how it was, Axel guessed. Roxas was worse than a ravenous lion when it came to eating after sex. Axel didn't mind, though. All those things made Roxas who he was, and Axel loved every bit of that to pieces.

Tomorrow, they would drive an hour up to Twilight Town to see Axel's parents, as they had done Roxas' the Sunday before. They would be given the tedious duty of passing out presents to all of Axel's nieces and nephews and the _chore _of listening to Axel's mother talk about getting more grandchildren, and then they would stuff themselves with food and desert and be given food to bring home even though Axel would _insist _that the drive was too long for anything to keep. But since it was Christmas, it would be great, it would be family time, and it would be fine.

Not tonight. Tonight was _their _special night, as Christmas Eve always was. It was always the same tradition, at first not done on purpose, but as time went on, it developed into something special and unbreakable. Axel would make cookies, Roxas would build the fort. They'd light their fire and watch their movies and, at some point in the night, make love in front of the fireplace, just as they had the first time they _truly _made love. Then at Axel insistence, just before bed, each would pick out one present for the other to open early.

So, true to Roxas' request, Axel ordered Chinese food, thus starting a new tradition (though they didn't know that just yet) of sugar cookies, lo mein, and Halloween. At precisely eleven forty-seven, the movie ended, and it was mutually decided that it was high time to get to bed. At least, that's what Axel _said_. Truthfully, he wasn't tired at all. He was very antsy and a little buzzed. Because it wasn't time to go to bed _just _yet. First, it was time to pick out the early presents.

Roxas went over to the tree and picked out a nicely wrapped, medium sized rectangular box, the kind that could contain just about anything, and he set it on the coffee table. Any other time Axel would consider variables like how heavy it was or whether or not anything clunked in it. But not this time. This time he was only zeroing on his own package to Roxas, which was about the size of a toaster. When he set it on the table, he met Roxas with a smile.

"Go on then, it's your turn to go first," said Roxas, smiling and urging him on.

For once really wishing that it wasn't his turn to go first this time, Axel tore off the paper, revealing the thing inside to be a flashlight that looked like a tripod, the size of a regular table lamp, apparently with flexible legs. It was a perfect little inside joke. Along with having a fancy for taking pictures (although not accompanied by talent, unfortunately) Axel complained at least once a week about how impossible it was to get the light right for reading in bed. With the flexible legs, he guessed it wouldn't be much of a problem anymore.

He smiled broadly at the gift and gave Roxas a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "For reading the dark? Thanks, Rox," he said distractedly. It's not that he didn't enjoy the gift, in fact he was pretty impressed with it. But Roxas was going to have to open his next, and that was a frightening prospect.

Thankfully, Roxas didn't keep him waiting long. Despite being in his mid-twenties, Roxas was still like a kid when it came to opening Christmas presents. He ripped the paper off eagerly and tossed it into some corner, taking off only as much as he needed to in order to wrench the top off.

But to his surprise, there was another box within that box. He looked up at Axel and laughed briefly, a little sparkle in his eyes. Within _that _box, was a whole lot of tissue paper, which, once torn away, would reveal another box. At this point, Roxas was giggling gleefully at the little game, opening box after box, until finally, he came across the one they both knew would be the last.

It was small enough the hold in the palm of one's hand, and covered in fine velvet of the deepest crimson color. Soft, square, but slightly rounded, there was only one thing a box like that could hold inside.

~o~

"Can't believe I'm doing this…" Axel muttered to himself, stepping up onto the threshold of _Oathkeeper _Jewelers. It was insanely busy, but probably the least busy store in Tram Common, which was a primarily outdoor mall sitting right in downtown Twilight Town. It was Black Friday, the day that Axel hoped to find a sale of some kind so as to break the fall of the enormous amount of money he was about to spend. He and Roxas were staying with Roxas' family for Thanksgiving, and he'd had some extra time today, and that was how he wound up here.

As soon as the warmth of the store's heater encompassed him, he felt a bit better, and then he felt a bit worse. Until that day, he hadn't realized there was such a scent as expensive, but as soon as the fine, brand-new-even-though-it-was-probably-old carpet smell wafted up to Axel's nose, he realized that some things could smell expensive.

Crazy as it sounds, he'd never actually been to a Jewelry store. Not even to help his dad pick out a present for his mother, not once. The sight of so many fine things in one spot was overwhelming, and Axel got that awful feeling one gets in the pit of their stomach when one realizes the task they'd set themselves to was going to be much harder than they previously imagined. He was expecting one or two cases devoted to rings, probably only one for engagement rings.

But no, there was an entire _counter _for them. Gold rings, silver rings, platinum rings (_What the fuck is __**platinum!? **_Axel thought frantically, beginning to panic.) Rings for men, rings for women, rings with diamonds, rings without, rings with other jewels encrusted into them, and rings that came apart into multiple sections.

"S-shit!" Axel whispered, rubbing his palm over his forehead. Where would he even _start? _

He must have looked lost, because a pleasant, female voice behind him said, "Hi, is there anything I can help you with?"

Axel turned around to see a small woman around Roxas' age, with straight, light blond hair that fell in neat little layers. Axel had to do a double take. She _looked _familiar, but it was hard to tell now that she was her normal color and not looking more or less like an oompa loompa. Then his eyes fell on her nametag, and he knew it was her.

"Autumn?" he asked hesitantly. She smiled nicely at him and nodded. "Autumn! It's great to see you! It's been a long time."

Autumn Kauffman was one of his ex-students, a girl who had been in the same class as Roxas. She had aged nicely; her jaw had become less square now that she was not as unnaturally thin as she once was, and her smile was much more becoming to her.

Axel hadn't _really _known her that well, in fact, the last time he saw her, she'd been trying to seduce him from the backseat of that Camaro he used to have, and that was on Valentine's Day. Unbeknownst to her, he and Roxas, who had been sitting in the front seat, had been fucking at the time, and had in fact gotten together officially on that very same day. Axel hoped that she wouldn't bring it up.

"I'm surprised you recognized me, Mr. Piersce," she said happily, "But you haven't changed a bit. You look a little lost, do you need some help?"

"You can just call me Axel now. Am I that obvious?" He questioned with a sheepish grin.

"Yeah…" she replied amusedly.

For some reason, Axel had a hard time saying that he needed an engagement ring. He hadn't told anyone outloud, not even himself that he was going to propose to Roxas. Sure, he'd been tossing around the idea, but it wasn't until today that he'd gotten the idea to come here on a whim. "Yeah, I'm uhh," he cleared his throat. "I'm looking for a ring."

"What kind of ring?" Autumn asked with a chuckle. "If you haven't noticed, we've got a lot of rings in here."

With a forced laugh, Axel said, "Oh, right. Umm… the kind that you pr-propose to someone with?"

"Oh my god! For Roxas!?" she said with a squeal. Of course. Everyone in Twilight Town knew that Axel and Roxas were dating. They'd barely waited two weeks after Roxas graduated to come out with it, and because Axel had been his teacher/tutor, tongue wagged about it for years. They probably still did, when things around the town got particularly boring. Nobody had ever tried to prove that something was going on while Roxas was still in school, but everyone was thinking it, of course.

When Axel nodded, she squealed again. "Right, this way! Did you have any idea what kind of metal you want? Were you thinking about getting a set? Or just the engagement band for now?"

"They come in _sets?_" he asked incredulously. "I thought you just, like, picked one out and you were done."

Autumn slowed down with the questions. "You really don't know what you're doing, huh? Typically there's a second ring that's exchanged or added at the ceremony, plus a band for the groom too, but a lot of couples like to pick them out together. But, come to think of it, I'm not sure if that's how with works with… you know…"

"Gay guys?" Axel suggested.

"I was trying to think of a more tactful way to put it," she said. "So just an engagement band then, for now?"

"That would probably be for the best," Axel agreed.

It took a pretty long time for Axel to even think on settling for something. First there was the issue about what he could and couldn't afford, and then Roxas' allergy to nickel, and then whether he should get it set with stones or not. After all, he wanted something beautiful that Roxas could show off, like a normal engagement, but at the same time, Axel didn't want to go with a ladies' ring. He had, at the very least, done one thing right, and that was borrowing Roxas' class ring to use as a reference for sizing.

Thanks to Autumn's patience and determination to help Axel find something, his eyes finally fell on one that, though it was a little pricier than he'd originally intended, he couldn't help but utter, "Perfect…"

~o~

"Axel…?" Roxas gasped, his big eyes turning up to his lover's, widened to twice their normal size. Hoping, but not daring to believe.

Axel shot both of his hands out to cover Roxas,' the box and all, before he lost his nerve. "Roxas…" he started. "If this is what we're doing in ten years, or twenty, or fifty… sitting by the fire and eating sugar cookies with Lo Mein, that'll be just perfect to me. I want to have you to cherish, every day for the rest of our strange little lives because I love you way more than anything in this world, and I don't ever want to let you go. I want to spend the rest of my days dealing with your crazy family and watching you become an awesome journalist and raising kids with you, and anything else in between. What do you think, babe? Marry me?"

A short little sob escaped from Roxas' throat as Axel let his hands slide off of his, allowing him to open the box. The band was white gold, with six little diamonds embedded into it. It had cost Axel four paychecks, but Roxas didn't need to know that. It was easy to pass off as other Christmas shopping, with this time of year.

"You jerk," Roxas choked, bringing up a hand to try and cover up the most uncontained smile in the history of smiles. "I thought I was _so _clever with the tripod light. How the heck am I supposed to one-up _this? _There's no way!"

"You could say yes," Axel suggested. "That would totally one-up every single Christmas I've ever had, combined. _Including _the time I got an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, and let me tell _you, _that is saying something."

Roxas laughed behind his hand, tears slipping out of his eyes and streaming down his face. And then suddenly he broke down, throwing himself full force into Axel, hugging with all his might. He was shaking with the sounds that escaped him, though from this angle it was impossible for Axel to tell whether they were of sobs or laughter. Regardless, it sounded happy, so he took that as a yes.

"_Yes!_" Roxas finally squeaked. "Yes, yes, yes! Of course I'll marry you! Oh my god, I love you so much!"

Axel was felt feeling a bit swept off his feet as Roxas set his hands over Axel's neck and kissed him passionately, over and over again. His brain was fried from all the chemicals of excitement running through him, and his heart _really _needed to calm down. But he _couldn't _calm down, because Roxas said yes! Not 'sure,' or 'yeah,' or 'all right,' no, he gave Axel the greatest present in the world. A great big, fat, giant, juicy YES! Four of them, as a matter of fact.

By the fourth or fifth kiss, Axel was able to gather himself enough to respond. He remolded his lips over Roxas,' tasting those happy, salt water tears, drinking in all that he was. He was going to get to keep him. Forever.

For the first time ever, Axel felt like a real grown up. He was thirty one years old and he'd been teaching for six years and he'd owned a house for a while now, but now he was getting _married. _He was actually going to settle down and get married, and he couldn't have been happier about it.

Gently, Axel took his fiancé's hand in his own and slid the ring onto the third finger, and then he raised the hand to his lips.

"How'd you know my ring size?" Roxas asked, wiping underneath his eyes with his other hand.

"Stole your class ring," said Axel, choking up a little at the sight of his lover choking up so.

It was, at that precise moment, that the clock on the wall struck twelve. Because of the late hour, it chimed quietly, but not quite silently. It rang beautifully through the living room, its lovely hymn accompanied by the cracks and pops of the fireplace, and just a _little _bit of creaking outside from the wind. It was Christmas morning.

Axel touched his forehead to Roxas' and kissed him chastely on the lips. "Merry Christmas, Roxas."

Then that sparkling smile showed up. That smile that, though Roxas didn't know it, made Axel fall in love with him. It was so beautiful and true, and best of all, it showed up exclusively for Axel. "Merry Christmas, Axel."

_End_


End file.
